


Create Our Own Star

by Azar



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-10 00:25:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7823077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azar/pseuds/Azar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack takes Martha on holiday to commemorate a very important anniversary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Create Our Own Star

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Niki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niki/gifts).



> Set in an AU where the Doctor didn't disable Jack's vortex manipulator after "Journey's End," and "Miracle Day" never happened. Title is from the song "Astronauts" by Rachel Platten.

“Okay. You can open your eyes."

There was a quip on the tip of Martha’s tongue about travel by vortex manipulator getting worse with time, rather than better. It vanished the moment she opened her eyes.

“Oh my God."

A nebula of shifting, coruscating hues of green and purple hung before them, as clearly visible as though they were standing in heart of it rather than behind a window that must be centimeters thick to keep in the atmosphere. Tendrils stretched as far as she could see, tinting the stars that sparkled through it like gems scattered across a great black sea.

Jack grinned, eyes twinkling nearly as much as those stars. “The first human to see this named it the Alexandrite Nebula because of the way the colors shift."

“It's beautiful." Her voice barely rose above an awed whisper. Martha'd seen wonders beyond counting traveling with the Doctor, more since she and Jack had begun making these little hops, but somehow the universe still managed to dazzle her every time. “Where are we?"

“Hephaestion Station Hotel," he answered with a bob of the eyebrows. “Built as a tourist destination about fifty years ago, and gravitationally anchored to the center of the nebula.” He winked. “It's a popular spot with honeymooners."

Martha felt her own eyebrows climb, even as she fought a smile. “Are we honeymooning, then? Funny, seeing as how I don't remember the wedding."

Jack laughed and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Nope. Think of it as an anniversary present."

Martha leaned gratefully into his embrace, her own hands coming up to cover his. Her brows drew together, he lips bowing into a frown. “Why, what's today?" 

“June thirtieth, 6008."

Thirtieth June. The same date they'd left, but for the difference in millennia. Martha's frown deepened as she twisted in his arms to look at him. “I don't understand. We haven't got an anniversary on the thirtieth of June."

His smile softened. “Sure we have. Ten years ago by our reckoning and four thousand by this time's--Martha Jones saved the world." He gestured around them, taking in not only the nebula, but the lobby of the hotel itself, where they stood. “The fact that any humans survived to see this? To build this? That's you."

Understanding crashed over Martha. Of course. She ought to have known. At the very least, she might have read the signs. Like the nightmares that surfaced only rarely now, but had come twice in the past week. The trouble she'd had sleeping. The downturn in her mood. There were other, subtler things--things she'd likely not even noticed. But he had.

Turning fully now, Martha pulled Jack's face down to her own and kissed him tenderly. When they parted, Jack smiled at her again, his eyes softer now.

“I didn't forget our deal," he teased. “You can tell the Doctor that, if he asks. Only when we need it. You needed this."

She took his hand and squeezed it. “How long have we got?"

Jack grinned, again with that mischievous eyebrow wag. “Let's get checked in and find out."

+

One advantage to traveling with Jack over the Doctor, Martha had long ago decided, was he wasn't quite as apt to go looking for trouble. Of course, the Doctor'd swear he didn't look for it either, that it merely had a knack for finding him. Still, in her opinion it happened entirely too often to be coincidence. Spending a week with Jack aboard a luxury space station resort was far less likely to end in a surprise alien invasion.

There were other considerations for a week away, though. “They haven't got a shop, have they?" She asked as she opened the door. The room had a fairly simple biometric lock which would be reset when they were due to be checked out, whether they'd actually done so or not. “I've done the whole wearing the same clothes for several days bit, and I'm not particularly keen to do it again."

Jack grinned as they stepped inside. “Among other things. However, I don't think shopping will be necessary unless you want to." He pressed a finger to what seemed an ordinary wall, and a drawer popped out. To her surprise, Martha found some of her own clothes neatly folded inside. 

“When did you...?"

He laughed. “I haven't--yet. Guess now I'll know what to pack."

The room itself was almost as spectacular as the lobby. The station had been constructed in such a way that just about every room looked out on the nebula. One wall was entirely window, with no curtains or blinds of any sort. Martha supposed they weren't needed, so long as the station's rotation didn't take them into sight of arriving ships' flight path. Even then, she supposed there was probably some way to tint the glass--or whatever it was--for privacy. This was, after all, a thousand years after Jack's time.

Against one wall was an enormous bed that the concierge had described as, “the absolute latest in biomolecular adaptive comfort technology." Aside from its size, it didn't look like much, but Jack had explained it was the sixty-first century equivalent of an adjustable mattress. It would change temperature, firmness, and even shape to adapt to their bodies' needs at any given moment. 

Martha took a tentative seat on the edge to test it out. The effect was instantaneous; it was like sinking into a cloud, but a cloud that knew exactly when to trade softness for support. “Oh my God!"

Jack smirked, wagging his eyebrows again. “Want to try it out properly?"

She laughed. “Yes, but not just yet. What else has this place got?"

+

Martha'd meant the station, but as it turned out, their room had a few surprises left as well. She'd expected some sort of bath; she hadn't expected a giant Jacuzzi that rose up from the floor on demand, or a sonic shower with settings that Jack described as “better than a vibrator." Even the loo was unlike anything she'd ever seen.

Then there was the three-dimensional holographic entertainment system, if one had nothing better to do. Impressive as it was, Martha had a feeling that wouldn't be a problem. As it was, by the time they'd finished exploring their temporary quarters, she was beginning to regret not taking Jack up on his offer of properly breaking in the bed. Jack could be incredibly thoughtful, not just as a lover but as a friend and partner as well, and it was the most attractive thing of many attractive things about him.

Still, Martha knew them both well enough to know if she gave in now, they might never see the rest of the station. So, difficult as it was, she stuck to her guns. 

Hephaestion was more than a hotel, as it turned out. There was an entire wing of shops, several floors high, and at the center, the only spot where no view could be seen of the nebula, a theme park. Clearly the spot wasn't popular only with honeymooners, or if it were, there were a great deal more folks who took their children with them on their honeymoon than in her time.

They had supper in an elegant restaurant at the very crown of the station, covered entirely in a clear dome that made it feel as though they were dining in the nebula itself. To Martha's relief, but no great surprise, Jack had--or would, rather--packed her favourite plum frock. More than that, she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him in a tux, or anything really besides the 'uniform' of greatcoat and braces he'd chosen for himself. The queen herself likely couldn't have felt more feted. The food too had surpassed her wildest expectations--a mix of familiar dishes and the completely alien, although with the latter, the recipes were modified accordingly to be safe for humans. Aside from a weirdly popular dish called spoo which Martha found entirely tasteless, she could probably say she'd never had a finer meal.

By the time they'd finished, Martha's considerable resolve was about undone, and by the twinkle in Jack's eye, he knew it.

+

“Bloody hell, I love biometric locks," Martha gasped as she and Jack stumbled together towards the bed. There'd been no fumbling for a key; all they'd done was fallen against the door and it had opened to let them through.

Jack laughed. “Tell me about it." His hair was in disarray from the near miss they'd had in the lift, standing up in nearly as many directions as the Doctor's. He was also wearing a good deal more of Martha's lipstick than still remained on her own face, and his bow tie hung loose about his now open shirt. She couldn't even properly recall at what point his jacket, belt and braces had vanished. For all Martha knew, they might be lying on the floor in the corridor outside, or even back in the lift.

Not that she was in much better shape. She'd kicked off her heels just inside the door and the back of her frock was already unzipped down to her arse. Jack pulled her in for another urgent kiss with one hand, as his other skillfully unhooked her bra and began to ease both frock and bra off her shoulder. Martha slipped that arm free and went for the fly of his trousers, slipping her hand inside.

Jack let out a pleased noise that made her warm all over and slammed them both into the wall, his lips migrating to her throat. Martha moaned. “Oh, God...tell me you brought protection?"

He drew back to give her a breathless smirk. “Martha Jones, have you no faith in me? Watch this." Turning his attention to the room for a moment, he called out, “Contraceptive mode."

An electronic voice replied. “Contraceptive mode engaged. Would you like to engage prophylactic and privacy mode as well?"

Jack winked. “Sure, why not?"

“Engaged," the voice said, then fell silent. The window rippled briefly, but the view of the nebula remained as bright as ever. Apparently privacy mode only engaged from the outside. 

He grinned. “Nanites. Yet to see the smallest retrovirus or gamete get past them. Now. Where were we?"

“Overdressed," Martha retorted, tugging at his shirt. It came off in short order, followed by his trousers and the rest of her frock. By now, the front of his shorts was tenting in a manner she still found impressive, even after all this time. 

Jack flicked deft thumbs over Martha's nipples and she arched against him, her eyes fluttering closed. Forming a coherent sentence wasn't easy, but she managed. “Thought we were going to try out the bed, not the wall."

He laughed and picked her up, depositing her on the bed. “Save that for later, hey?" Then his head disappeared down below her waist.

The noise that rose in her throat as his tongue went to work was more animal than human, which only made him laugh more.

+

Some time later, Martha lay drowsily pillowed on Jack"s arm, watching the shifting colors of light from outside dance across his chest and tracing their patterns with her finger. She watched the bruises she'd left already fading from his skin and marveled again at the tenacity of his unique existence. Her own body throbbed with a pleasant ache that went deeper than the physical, though there was plenty of physical to go around.

Years ago, before they'd lost him and Tom, Ianto had once described Jack's sexual prowess as “innovative, bordering on avant garde," but in Martha's experience, that was something of an understatement. He wasn't just a talented lover, though. He was generous and...present in a way that went beyond explaining. Even back when they'd first started, both of them mourning the loves they'd lost to the 456, she'd never once felt unseen or unheard in his arms. He reveled in finding new ways to make her body sing, and both in and out of the bedroom, his eyes never looked through her as the Doctor's had done.

Was it any wonder it was so easy to fall in love with him? Martha sometimes wondered if she hadn't done from the very beginning and had only been too blinded by the Doctor to see it. Not that she'd have done a thing differently, as he'd still had Ianto then, but she'd long discovered Jack's heart was more than big enough for both. It was another testament to how much he respected his partners that Jack stayed monogamous if they needed him to, even though his natural inclination was anything but.

It was hard to break the comfortable silence. They'd long since reached a point where they didn't need words to communicate, but nonetheless there was something Martha needed to say. “Thank you. You were right, I needed this. All of it."

Without even looking, she could feel Jack smile. “Any time." Silence lapsed for a moment before he broke it again, this time with laughter in his voice. “So. Plans for the rest of the week?"

Martha laughed as well before pulling herself up to kiss him again. “Oh, I'm sure we can think of something."


End file.
